We surveyed 8,261 journalists to learn what personality traits and interests make them unique. Here are the results.


Holland Codes

Journalists are artistic and enterprising

Journalists tend to be predominantly artistic individuals, meaning that they are creative and original and work well in a setting that allows for self-expression. They also tend to be enterprising, which means that they are usually quite natural leaders who thrive at influencing and persuading others.

If you are one or both of these archetypes, you may be well suited to be a journalist. However, if you are realistic, this is probably not a good career for you. Unsure of where you fit in? Take the career test now.

Here’s how the Holland codes of the average journalist break down:


Big Five

The top personality traits of journalists are openness and extraversion

Journalists score highly on openness, which means they are usually curious, imaginative, and value variety. They also tend to be high on the measure of extraversion, meaning that they rely on external stimuli to be happy, such as people or exciting surroundings.

Once again, let’s break down the components of the personality of an average journalist: